“Marisa Bushman, a San Antonio Symphony viola player, loves the musical power of the fourth movement of Beethoven’s ninth symphony,” writes Michael Quintanilla in Thursday’s (10/29) San Antonio Express-News (Texas). “ ‘It’s 18 minutes of nonstop ferocious playing,’ Bushman explained about performing the piece earlier this year … while wearing a new black jacket she said was too tight…. She vowed to never wear it again. Enter her friends, the mother-daughter design duo Nilgün and Ayse Derman, symphony lovers who have created the Niche Symphony Collection … for the orchestra’s 35 women. In a summer focus group … the women told the designers [they wanted] lightweight clothing that breathes and moves with them and above all, isn’t see-through under the stage lights…. The Dermans decided to create the machine washable collection … [and] have given two outfits to each female member. On Nov. 14 the musicians will debut their looks at a concert featuring the music of Stewart Copeland and Maurice Ravel under the baton of music director Sebastian Lang-Lessing…. Ayse is hoping that other symphonies across the country will show interest in the collection that is her and Nilgün’s way of giving back to San Antonio.”
Posted October 30, 2015
